House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is calling for President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, to be fired immediately.
“Michael Flynn’s conduct was alarming enough before his secret communications with the Russians were exposed,” Pelosi said in a statement released Monday.
“Now, we have a National Security Advisor who cannot be trusted not to put Putin before America.”
Pelosi said in the statement that the Trump White House “speaks for itself.”
“The reports of the Trump-Russia dossier gain credence with each passing day. As long as Republicans refuse to compel the release of President Trump’s tax returns, they are complicit in covering up Russia’s financial, personal and political hold on the Administration,” Pelosi said.
“This Administration has exhausted its excuses. Vladimir Putin’s grip on President Trump must be investigated, exposed and broken. National security demands that General Flynn be fired immediately.”
Pelosi also tweeted Monday that the president should “break out his old catch phrase” and fire Flynn.
A spokesman for Flynn walked back that denial last week, saying that while Flynn “had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up,” according to The Washington Post.
Vice President Pence told CBS in January that Flynn never spoke about sanctions during his calls to Russia.
“General Flynn has been in touch with diplomatic leaders, security leaders in some 30 countries. That’s exactly what the incoming national security advisor should do,” Pence told CBS host John Dickerson.
“But what I can confirm, having spoken to him about it, is that those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the United States took action to expel diplomats had nothing whatsoever to do with those sanctions.”
When asked Sunday about whether the president still has confidence in Flynn, policy adviser Stephen Miller declined to answer, saying that was a question that should be directed toward the president.
A CNN report Monday said Flynn has no plans to resign from his post and does not expect to be fired. The report, which cites a senior administration official, also raises questions about Flynn’s future in the Trump administration, however.